Control valve



R. T. KO'HLER ETAL CONTROL VALVE April 24, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 2, 1950 INVENTORS. ROBERT T. KOHLER C.A. SPAULDING.JR.

THEIR ATTORNEYS.

April 1951 R. T. KOHLER ET'AL 2,550,011

CONTROL VALVE Filed March 2, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

ROBERT T. KOHLER C. A. SPAULDING, JR.

W -M.%f am,

THEIR ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 24, 1951 CONTROL VALVE Robert T. Kohler and Charles A.Spaulding, Jr.,

Omaha, Nebr., assignors toThe Refinite Corporation, Omaha, N ebr.

braska a corporation of Ne- Application March 2, 1950, Serial No.147,292

This invention relates to multiple or compound valve units and itrelates particularly to a-multiple valve unit by means of which theregeneration and operation of domestic and commercial water softenerscan be controlled with a single control handle or knob.

Water softening apparatus is made in many different forms, but mosttypes include a tank for the ion exchange material through which thehard water from the local supply source is passed to remove the hardnessfrom the water by the exchange reaction.

Periodically the ion exchange material must be regenerated by means of asalt solution or brine which is supplied from a brine tank to the ionexchange tank by displacing the water in the tank with the brinesolution. The sodium ions replace the calcium and magnesium ions in theion exchange material and thereby place the ion exchange material incondition for the treatment of additional hard water.

The valve system heretofore used in the control of the water supply,the-introduction of brine and the flushing of the brine from the ionexchange tank has been rather complicated inasmuch as three or four oreven more valves usually have to be manipulated in order to make thenecessary connections. I v

The present invention relatesto a valve unit in which a series of threevalves are so arranged and interconnected that they can be actuated bymeans of a single control member to make the necessary changes in theliquid circuit or system to facilitate easy regeneration of the ionexchange material.

In general, the valve unit includes a main control valve having an inletport and at least four outlet ports which are connected to the severaltanks and conduits of the water softening system, one of these outletports being connected to the drain line and an adjacent port being connected to the top of the ion exchange tank. The drain and tank top portsare provided with valves which can be moved to open and close theseports. These ports may be connected simultaneously to the inlet port bymeans of a valve member in the four outlet port valve while the otherports may be connected to each other by means of a suitable valvemember. Any other combination of adjacent pairs of ports may also beconnected to the inlet port or to each other. 7 In order to provide theproper fluid circuits at the above-mentioned valves, the main controlvalve may be provided with a suitable control 'ca'm which is coupled tothe valves in the drain and 5 Claims. (Cl. 277-10) tank top port so thatupon movement of the main control Valve plug, the outlet port and tanktop ports may be opened and closed in proper sequence. In this way, byproperly designing the cam and relating the positions of the severalvalve elements as to their open and closed positions and to the inletand outlet ports, it is possible to control the fluid circuit throughthe softener either to place the water softener in condition forsoftening of hard water, for regenerating the ion exchange material Orfor flushing the brine and the calcium and magnesium compounds producedby regeneration from the system.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a typical valve embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken Fig.2; and

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation of the valve with the cam removed toshow details of construction.

The valve illustrated in the drawin is made up primarily of three valvesin, II and I2 which are suitably arranged and connected to provide achange of flow of the liquid in such a manner as to control theregeneration and use of a water softening system. The valve [0, as bestshown in Figs. 2 and 3, includes a casing member I3 having acentrallyarranged internally threaded coupling element l4 serving as theinlet port for the valve. The casing further has four internallythreaded coupling elements l5, l6, l1 and I8 that serve as the outletports of the valve.

All of the ports M to [8 communicate with a central valve chamber IQ ofgenerally cylindrical form in which is mounted a rotary valve plug 20also of generally cylindrical shape. The valve plug is best shown inFig. 2 and Fig. 3 and is provided with a pair of grooves or passages 2|and 22 on opposite sides thereof and extending a little less than aroundthe periphery of the plug 20. The plug is also provided with a centrallylocated passage 23 which communicates with the passage 22 so that theinlet port [4 is at all times connected with the passage 22, which, inturn, is in communication with one or more of the outlet ports l5 to l8.In its adjusted position, the passage 22 will connect adjacent pairs ofthe outlet ports, for example, ports 16 and IT, as shown in Fig. 3,while the passage 2| at the same time connects the outlet ports 15 and I8. It will be on line 3- 3of '3 understood that the valve plug 20 may berotated to make various paired connections as described above.

The valve plug 20 is mounted on or provided with a valve stem or shaft24 which is rotatably mounted in the hollow hub 25 of a disc-like coverplate 26 closing the left-hand face. of; the valve casing 13-; vleak-tight seal is maintained between the cover plate 26 and the casingl3 by means of an interposed gasket 21. 7

To prevent leakage around the shaft 24,.the hub maybe provided with a Utype of sear 28 receiving a ring 29 I bearing against the left-hand face20a of the valve plug 20. The seal 28* is urged" toward the plug bymeans of a coil spring 30 within the hub and bearing against a ringslin: contact with the base of the seal 28. V V

The top port of the valve unit is connected with the valve member llwhich may be of any desired type including a reciprocable; valve: stem32. Thus, the valve I l may include a. poppet type valve or othersimilar arrangement, but, as i-llus tratedg it preferably consists ofaslide typevalve including a sleeve member 3200, such as: a'U- sealingring made of rubber or the likemounted within the casing 33 of the.valve. The sleeve between: itsarms, the ring;

member 3211 is retained in position by means. of

spacing sleeves 34a and 342), the latter having av series of.openingstherein between the. nipple 35 of the casing and theriglrit-angulaily related coupling 36 thereof. The valve stem. 32carries a plunger of solid or hollow formation which can move down intothe. sleeve 32a to close. the valve H" or up to open the valve H.

The port I1 is provided with thevalve. the valve H, described above.

The valves H and I2 are coupled, as described hereinafter, to the maincontrol valve Ill, in order to obtain a seriesof open and closedrelations sufficient to regulate the liquid now throu'ghthe softener, asdescribed above. To this end', the shaft 24-is provided with a disc-likecam member l2 like 31 which is fixed to the end of the shaft by means Iof a set screw 38 and also serves as a coupling for connecting the shaft2% to ahether'shaft 39 on which the control handle; not shown, ismounted. The cam 31 rotates with the valve plug 20 and has an'inte'rnalcam track 40 which is used to control the opening andclosin'g of thevalves H and I2. best shown in Fig. l, the cam track 40, throughoutabout 1 80 of its path, is generally semi-circular and is'near' the rimof the cam member 31 and then curves inwardly to form a valley 40anearer the center of the cam disc.

The actuating mechanism for the valves l1 and I2 is best shown in Figs.2 and 4. This actuating mechanism includes a spider member 41 having apair of "right-singularly related arms '22 and '43 extendingsubstantially parallel with the of the valves H and i2 andbeingsupp'o'rted attheir inner ends on a C-shaped frame portion 43 whichis secured to the front of the cover plate 26 by means of the screws H5which also serve-to retain the cover plate-26 on the casing I'll. Thearm 42 is provided with a pair of guide lugs 46 and 4! in which isslidab'ly mounted 'a push rod 48 having at its inner end a cam roller 49engaging in thecam track 43. On the opposite side of the push rod 58from the follower roller 49 is another roller which engages ina grooveelextending lengthwise of the arm 52 'toprevent rotation of the push rod'48 about its axis; The upper end of the push rod' lfiis threaded at 52to-receive an arm 53- threadedthere'on' and connected to the upper endof the valve stem 32 by engagement in the slotted upper end 321) of thestem and retained therein by means of a cotter pin 54. A look nut 52aholds the arm 53 in adjusted position. A similar push rod 55 connectsthe cam track 40 with the outer end of the stem 56 of the valve. l2(Fig. 3')

The arrangement of the push rods with respect to the valves II and I2 issuch that when the cam follower 49, for example, is in the valley 40aof. the cam track 40, the valve H is closed. it either fully orpartially open when the cam roller 49 engages. in. the other portions ofthe track 40; Also, the valve I2 is closed when the cam roller 51 on theinner 55 is in the valley 40a and is open in positions.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, when the valley 40a is in the bottom position(Fig. 1), the inlet M of the valve In is connected to the bottom port l6and the port I! and the valves. H and I12. are' open. The ports: l5 andH3 are connected to each other through the passage 21 in the valve plug20.

When the cam 31? isrotated 40a, in the three oclock position: in Fig.1-, the valve H is open, the valve I2 is closed and the. ports l5 and Hl4. by means of the passage '2 l. Rotationof the cam- 31 to the nineoclock position opens both of. the:

all other valves H and I2 and connects the inlet port to If the watersoftening apparatus is of the utilizing an ejector for introducing thebrine into the ion exchange tank, the valve casing ['3' may be providedwith another port 58 in the coupling forming the inlet port 14 so thatthe untreated water may be used and thereby withdraw thebrin'e from itstank under the control of a suitable additional man'- ually operatedvalve. 7

From the'preceding' description of a typical valve unit embodying thepresent invention, itwill be apparent that this unit makes possible thechanging of a wide variety of hydraulic cir cuits under the control of asingle operating handle or other equivalent element and that once thecam member is properly adjusted, foolp'oof operation is assuredespecially if the valve is utilized with the control panel and a dial onwhich the various positions and their functions" are indicated. v

It will be understood that the valve is sus ceptible to considerablemodification especially in the types of valves used therein. As indi--cated above, instead of slide valves as illustrated and described,poppet type valves or even rotary valves may be used. Also, a slidevalveor similar selector valve 'may be used instead of the rotary valve l0,and through appropriate connections, may provide the same changes inhydraulic circuits. Therefore, the 'form of the invention describedherein should. be considered as illustrative and not] as limiting thescope of the following claims. f

We claim:

1. A compound valve comprisinga valveIcas'-' end of the push rod toplacethe valley are connected to. the inlet port The port I6 isconnected to, the. port l8 to operate the ejector ing having five portstherein, a rotary valve in said casing having passages therein forselectively connecting one of said ports to a pair of adjacent remainingports and selectively connecting the other remaining pair of ports toeach other, a first valve having a reciprocable valve plug thereinconnected to one of said remaining ports, a second valve having areciprocable valve plug therein connected to another of said remainingports adjacent to said one of said remaining ports, a rotary cam memberfixed to said rotary valve and means connecting said cam member to saidreciprocable valve plugs for alternately opening and closing thecorresponding valves.

2. A first valve casing having an inlet port, four outlet ports in saidcasing extending substantially radially with respect to said inlet port;a rotary valve plug in said casing having passages therein forselectively connecting any adjacent pair of outlet ports to said inletport, and connecting the remaining pair of outlet ports to each other, asecond valve casing connected to one outlet port and mounted on saidfirst valve casing, a reciprocable valve plug in said second valvecasing for opening and closing said one outlet port, a third valvecasing connected to another outlet port adjacent to said one outlet portand mounted on said first valve casing, a reciprocable valve plug insaid third valve casing for opening and closing said another outletport, a cam member fixed to and rotatable with said rotary valve plug,and connections between said cam member and said reciprocable valveplugs for reciprocating them to open and close said one and said anotheroutlet ports alternately upon rotation of said cam member.

3. A compound valve comprising a valve casing having an inlet port andfour outlet ports, a movable valve plug in said casing having passagestherein for selectively connecting an adjacent pair of outlet ports tosaid inlet port and connecting the remaining pair of outlet ports toeach other, a first valve including a movable element for opening andclosing one outlet port, a second valve including an element for openingand closing another outlet port adjacent to said one outlet port, andmechanical connections between said movable valve plug and said valveelements for closing said one outlet port and opening said anotheroutlet port when these ports are connected simultaneously to said inletport, closing said another port and opening said one port when saidinlet port is connected to said another port and a port other than saidone port, and opening both of said one and said another ports in allother positions of said valve plug.

4. A compound control valve comprising a rotary valve including a casinghaving an inlet and four outlets and a rotary plug having passages forconnecting said inlet to two adjacent outlets and the other two outletsto each other, a first valve including a reciprocable valve plugconnected to one outlet, a second valve including a reciprocable valveplug connected to a second outlet adjacent to said one outlet, a cammember fixed to and rotatable with said rotary plug, a pair of push rodsengaging said cam member and reciprocable thereby, and membersconnecting each push rod to one of said reciprocable valve plugs to openand close said 1 first and second valves in predetermined relation tothe rotated position of said rotary plug.

5.'The valve set forth in claim 4 comprising guide members fixed to saidrotary valve casing and supporting said push rods for axial movement,and cooperating elements on said guide members and said push rodsrestraining the latter against rotation.

ROBERT T. KOI-ILER.

C. A. SPAULDING, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the tile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 251,814 Strech Nov. 2, 18861,005,549 Jacobson Oct. 10, 1911 1,193,780 Haag Aug. 8, 1916 2,254,421Eickmey Sept. 2, 1941 2,284,611 Barnhart May 26, 1942

